Republished January 24, 2019 - 10:23 AM
Original Publication Date January 24, 2019 - 8:51 AM
NEWPORT, Mich. - A sheriff's deputy and a Border Patrol agent who's working without pay during the partial government shutdown are being hailed as heroes for saving a suicidal man from a Michigan bridge.
Border Patrol Agent Brian Maitland and Monroe County Deputy Brian Sroka helped save a 64-year-old man from the CN Railroad Bridge this month in Newport, The Detroit News reported.
The two were among the officers responding to a call that a man appeared to be preparing to jump from the bridge. They say that as Sroka spoke to the man, Maitland approached from behind and pulled the man from the edge of the bridge.
Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow said the men are heroes.
Maitland, who's been with the Border Patrol for a decade, said he was just doing his job to protect the community and that it's "human nature to try and help someone in need."
"Anybody in law enforcement or fire or EMS would have done the same thing," said Maitland, who works for the Gibraltar Border Patrol Station. "A human life is a human life."
Maitland's colleague, Jason Anderson, said his actions show the commitment government workers have even as they aren't being paid.
"In these times, when we are not receiving a paycheque, we have (a) dedicated group of men and women performing their jobs and working for the American people," Anderson said.
Maitland is among the 800,000 federal workers who aren't being paid as the five-week old stalemate over President Donald Trump's demand for $5.7 million for a border wall continues.
Maitland said his family is "doing OK" as he goes without pay and declined to comment further on the shutdown.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019